by Julia Ravenscroft
Imp Queen/Imp Kid is a musician and drag queen based out of Chicago. Described as a "Queer non-binary trans femme" (despite her condemnation of labels), she gained the nickname "imp" from her friends in college for being cute yet devious when partying--"not evil, but definitely chaotic."
She dreamed of being an actor, and after graduating from college even played a Lost Boy in the national tour of Peter Pan. But she hated it, and realized theatre wasn't for her. Soon after, she helped start a collaborative art project called
WITCH HAZEL under the name "Imp Kid." Then in spring 2015, she started doing drag more seriously in Chicago neighborhoods like Pilsen, under the pseudonym Imp Queen. Her music on Soundcloud is still listed under Imp Kid, so she is simultaneously Imp Kid and Imp Queen. And part kid, part queen might be the best way to describe her, since her fashion is playful, colorful, and fun yet extravagant and expensive.
She has gone by Imp publicly since WITCH HAZEL, a testament to her statement that her drag is not a character but rather an extension of her personality. Clearly inspired by both 1960s fashion illustrations and 1990s club kids, she has reinterpreted both styles by working with local artists through her lens as a contemporary non-binary artist. Self described as a "classy bitch, but acts like a trashy girl," Imp has her own interpretation of what drag is, exemplified in her unique style. When asked about the definition of drag, Imp said:
"There’s a lot of discussion happening in drag circles right now about exactly who or what constitutes a “drag queen”- with most of it focused on defining the word “drag”. People fixate on how a performer’s visual aesthetic, performance style, and gender identity relate to drag as an historical art form. But I find people are much less engaged with interrogating the word “queen”… After all, what does it mean to be a queen? To have subjects? To engage diplomatically with your enemies? To occupy the upper-tier of an established hierarchical society? To inherit titles and power generationally? To produce heirs? To be feared and loved?"
She has openly criticized how many "think about and understand the world in terms of dichotomies." Describing her own experience as always understanding herself and the world as non-binary, she suspects that humanity's fascination with binaries comes from our body's understanding of life and death. "That innate awareness of living versus not living colors our whole experience of the world and wires these binary thought structures into our brains."
"The vast majority of what we think of as contemporary drag culture, from slang to dance moves to style trends, arose out of Black and Latinx Ballroom scenes and is primarily the creation of Black and Latinx transwomen and queer people of color. Right now, we’re living in a moment where a lot of people think of drag as “a man in a wig,”and a majority of the most successful drag queens are white cisgender gay men."
Despite acknowledging the unfair treatment that benefits white cisgender gay men in the queer community, Imp Queen does not have the best reputation when it comes to the Black and Latinx queens she is referring to. She has not been nearly as present in the Chicago drag scene since coming under fire by other popular Chicago queens for problematic behavior. Recently, The Vixen, a contestant on RuPaul's Drag Race Season 10, tweeted:
With All Stars 5 winner Shea Coulee retweeting it, it's clear that Imp Queen has been involved in manipulative displays of emotion without considering the optics of presenting herself as the white victim. This was tweeted five months ago, and Imp has not posted on Twitter or Instagram since the summer. Racial tensions in the United States came to a boiling point around the same time with the nationwide protest following the death of George Floyd, so a heightened sense of racial awareness cause even more backlash towards her and probably more reflection on her part. Combined with her prior physical absence from the drag scene, it is not confirmed if this is why she has been M.I.A., but with little else reason, many credit this situation with departure. She is now rumored to be living in New York.
Imp Queen is not perfect, but she is a shining example of how a trans queen can find their own voice and find success in the drag scene, something that was taboo just ten years ago. Though her time doing drag may be over, she has made an impact with her iconic looks.
And her story can teach us about modern drag and how social media interacts with drag communities to make or break careers.
Finding your signature style is every artists never ending search, and through discovering drag, Imp Queen definitely found a memorable niche of her expression. ~
Bibliography
Alok. “Imp Queen and the Perpetually Problematic Erasure of Trans Drag Queens.” Them., A Queer Pride, 29 Sept. 2018, www.them.us/story/imp-queen-trans-drag-queens.
Morpurgo, Dani. “Imp Queen: The Lost Boy That Found Herself In Drag.” GPS Radar, 14 Sept. 2018, www.gpsradar.com/blog/industry/imp-queen-the-lost-boy-that-found-herself-drag/.
Ross Forman, Windy City Times. “In the Life: Imp Queen - Windy City Times News.” Windy City Times, Windy City Times, 30 Mar. 2016, www.windycitytimes.com/m/APPredirect.php?AID=54765.
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